Preparation of fibrous materials for spinning



l w. L BALLS ET AL A REPAATION oF Fnus MATERIALS Fon SPINNING Filed Feb. 23, 1924 3 Sheng-SHR i Patented Mar. 3, 1925.

UNITED STATESv PATENT OFFICE.

LAND, ASSIGNORS TO THE FINE COTTON SPINNERS AND DUBLEBS ASSOCIATION LIMITED, OF MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, A BRITISH COIvIPANY.

PREPARATION or FIBRoUs MATERIALS non SPINNING.

Application filed February 23, 1924. Serial No. 694,543.

To @ZZ whom it may concern.'

Be it known that we, WILLIAM LAWRENCE BALLS and FREDERICK HUToHTNs, both subjects of the King of England, both residing 5 at Manchester, Lancashire, England, have .invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Preparation of Fibrous Materials for Spinning, of which the followingy is a specification.

This invention is forimprovements in or relating to the preparation of fibrous materials Vfor spinning, and is applicable for use with cotton and various other fibres.

Commonly in preparing fibrous material for spinning, the sliver delivered from the draw-frame hereinafter termed finished draw-frame or like sliver, is passed through several other drafting machines before it reaches the mule or other spinning machine. Usually the sliver is passed through various flyer frames in order to be' thus drafted, namely through some or all of slubbing, intermediate, roving, and jack frames, each of which further drafts and partly twists 25 the sliver. It is an 'object of the present invention to reduce materially the number of these drafting operations. This is desirable, not merely with a view to reducing the number of machines necessary in an installation, but also because of the character of the sliver produced, since it is foundin practice that the larger the number of drafting operations to which the sliver is subjected, the large-r the number of faults and virregularities it is liable to develop. What is required is a draft'of somewhere in the neighbourhood of 200, and to secure eiiicient results with such a high draft, the feed of the sliver to the drafting device, though relatively extremely slow, must be very accurate and regular`. It will be understood that lthe term drafting device is employed herein to denote the delivery rollers or the equivalent which receive the sliver from the feeding and restraining device andr between which and the feeding and restraining device the draft occurs.

According to one feature of the present invention there is provided a machinevfory drafting fibrous materials comprising a drafting device (such as a sety of constantly vsliver is automatically intermittently relieved' (for example by lifting an upper Y plate) during 'the operation of the machine.

Such .a machine is suitable for use for either ordinary drafts or for the high drafts just referred to and it will be found that rby having the guide plates? bearing upon substantially the whole length of the sliver between the two sets of rollers or other device the plate will keep it evenly compressed'. When the pressure is relieved, the drafting device will be able to feed the portion of the fibrous material forward, but since the pressure is only relieved intermittently the rate of feed can be made extremely slow and the desired accurate results thus obtained. The feeding motion of the sliver' through the plates is assisted by pulling upon it from the front, thus tende ing to keep the individual fibres straight and taut. l

- In a machine constructed in accordance with the aforesaid feature of thefpresent invention, the feeding and restraining device may be constantly driven, but according to another feature of the invention means are provided for intermittently operating (for example intermittently rotating) the feeding and restraining device during the drafting operation of theV machine. This intermittent operation may Stake the form of driving it at a constant speed but imparting to it an intermittent reciprocation bodily towards and from the drafting device; or itI may take the foi-m1 of imparting an intermittent rotation or like operative motion to the feeding and restrainingfdeviee, without anyy such bodily reciprocation; or the intermittent rotation or like operative motionI maybe superimposed upon the said intermittent reciprocation. The choice between these various alternatives will depend upon the type of machine required, or the circumstances in which it is to be used, or the nature of the fibrous material with which it is required to deal. They will all be found, however, to be suitable for the regular but relatively extremely slow feed of the sliver to the high speed drafting device.

The relief of the pressure of the guide plates on the sliver is preferably timedto coincide with the operation of the feeding and restraining device so as to secure a proper feed of the material to the drafting device. Furthermore, during the drafting operation of the machine, the sliver guide plates may be intermittently reciprocated bodily towards and from the drafting device, this reciprocation being preferably synchronous with that of 'the feeding and restraining device. Moreover, it will be found advantageous to time the relief of the pressure of the guide plates on the sliver to coinride with the concluding portion of the translatory movement of such plates towards the drafting device. For effecting this the reciprocating movement of the sliver guide plates n'iay be arranged to cause them to encounter' a separating cam towards the end of their movement in the direction of the drafting device. Thus the pressure upon the sliver may be relieved at the instant when the drafting rollers take hold of the front ends of the fibres.

For imparting the aforesaid intermittent rotation to the feeding and restraining device, many types of mechanism are suitable, such as toothed or frictional ratchet gear, escapeinent mechanism or Maltese cross gear. In one convenient construction which constitutes a feature of the invention, the feeding and restraining device is operated by a toothed wheel engaged and driven by a disc whereof one portion of the periphery lies in one plane and another portion of the periphery extends in the form of a tongue having a free end which lies in another plane separated froin the first plane by a distance corresponding tothe pitch of the teeth of the said wheel. Thus as the disc is rotated, so long as the first named portion of the periphery is engaging the wheel no rotation will be imparted to the latter, but as soon as the tongue enters between the teeth of the wheel, the slope of the tongue will cause the wheel to revolve a portion of a turn. The extent of movement imparted by the tongue to the wheel will' be such that as the tongue leaves the wheels there will be a space between two adjacent teeth in position for the other part of J[he periphery of the disc to enter as it continues its rotation. In this way a stepby-step rotation will be imparted to the wheel, and according to the slope of the tongue so the speed at which the actual partialv rotation takes place may he varied.

Vhen, as indicated above, the feeding and restraining device is intermittently reciprocated bodily towards and from the drafting device, the drive (for example rotation) is preferably imparted to it by a two-part rotary shaft whereof the parts are connected together endwise by a flexible coupling, and the one shaft part moves with the feeding and restraining device in its reeiprocatory movement, and the other shaft part does not partake of such reciprocatory movement but transmits driving rotation to the first named shaft part.

The provision of means for automatically intermittently relieving the pressure of the guide plates upon the sliver is not essential to all constructions of machines according to the present invention since it is believed to be novel to construct a machine for drafting fibrous materials which comprises in combination a drafting device (such as a set of constantly rotating drafting rollers), a feeding and restraining device (such as another set of rollers) co-operating therewith, sliver guide plates (such as cooperating upper and lower plates) lying between the drafting and the feeding and restraining devices and bearing on substantially the whole length of sliver between the two said devices, means for intermittently operating (for example intermittently rotating) the feeding and restraining device during the drafting operation of the machine and means. whereby, during the drafting operation of the machine, the feeding and restraining device is intermittently reciprocated bodily'towards and from the drafting device, whether or not the sliver guide plates are also similarly intermittently reciprocated bodily. This combination of parts, therefore, constitutes one of the features of the present invention as applied to all types of draft.

According to a further feature of the invention sliver-condensing means are provided for operating upon the sliver after it has issued from the drafting device. The delivery from the drafting device, particularly when the aforesaid high draft is being applied, is of ribbon formation. The slivercondensing device will rendei this ribbon suitablel for immediate use in a mule or other spinning machine as desired and will provide for proper spinning of the inner and outer bres. The sliver-condensing device may take the form of a pair of rollers set at righ-t angles to the rollers of the drafting deviceA and having a surface speed the same as or slightly in excess of the surface speed of the drafting rollers.

Another combina-tion of parts which is believed to be novel, and which constitutes a feature of. the invention', comprises a drafting device (such as a set of constantly rotatingA drafting rollers), a feeding and refli) lflll straining device (such as another set of rollers) cooperating therewith, mechanism whereby the speed of operation upon the material being drafted of the two said devices is so correlated that, without any other drafting means being interposed between the two said devices, so high a draft (for example of 200) is imparted to the said material that if a finished draw-frame or like sliver is fed to the feeding and restraining device and passes from this device to the drafting device, the latter delivers a sliver suitable, without further drafting in flyer frames or the like, for immediate spinning, say7V by a mule, and sliver-condensing means operating upon the sliver after it has issued from the drafting device. The speed correlation may be obtained in various ways. For instance the two sets of rollers or other devices may each be driven at a constant speed the one from the other by suitable accurate gearing, the speed of the drafting device being, of course, very much greater than the speed of the feeding and restraining device. Or the draft'of the feeding and restraining device may be intermittent, asv

already described, and the Vaforesaid reciprocatory movement of the feeding andrestraining device may or may not be adopted according to circumstances.

For a more complete understanding of these and other features of the invention there will now be described, by way of eX- ample only and with reference to the accon'ipanying drawings, certain constructional forms of part of a drafting machine according to the invention. It is to be understood, however, that the'invention is not limited to the precise constructional details set forth.

' In these drawingsz- Figure 1 is a sectional elevation on they line 1 1 of Figure 2.

Figure 2 is a sectional elevation on the line 2 2 of Figure 1. i l

Figure 3 is a sectional view corresponding to a portion of Figure 1 but showing the parts in a different position. f

Figure e is a detail section on the line l-fl of Figure 1 showing the sliver-con densing means.

Figure 5 is a detail plan view of the driving mechanism for the feeding and restraining rollers. f

Figure 6 is a partial elevation of the parts shown in Figure Figure 7 is a detail view, on a scale larger than that of the preceding figures, of a modified construction of the sliver guide plates, and

Figure 8 is a similar view of another modilied construction. v

Like reference numerals indicate like parts throughout the drawings. v.

A .pair of draft-ing rollers are shown in end elevation in Figure 1 at 10 and l1, and,

one or both of these rollers may be driven through the respective shafts 12 and 13, or in some other convenient way. The rollers are supported in a stationary bracket 14,

and a co-operating pair of feeding and reby rods 21 and 22 and the latter carries a f roller 23'which engages the edge of a rotary cam 24. By means of this cam 24: the frame is rocked about the pivotlS thereby moving the rollers 15 and 16 towards and from the rollers 10 and 11.

Carried by the frame member 17 is a rod 25 with a pair of blocks 2G and r27 on it. These blocks. may be adjustable` along the rod 25 and the latter mayalso be adjustable in the frame'member 17 `ifso desired. block 26 pivotally carries one endof a lower silver guide plate 28r and the block 27 pivotally carries a bar 29, which is pivoted to one,Y end of an upper sliver guide y plate 30. The bar 29 is drawn towards the rod 25 by a spring 31 and it willy be understood that the other ends of the plates 28 and 3U may bel correspondingly supported.y Likewisethere may be similar intermediate supports if so desired. The sliver lying between the plates 28'and 30 will be subject to pressure consequent upon the weight of the upper plate 30 andy this` pressure will be supplemented bythe pressure exerted by the springs 31. Y

It will be understood thatthe sliver guide plates 28 and 30 rock to and fro with the frame members 17. To relieve the pressure of the plates upon the sliver, the bracket 1l is provided withy a separating cam 32 whereof the operating surface will be encountered by a part movingwith the upper platel when the latter istowards the end of'its movement in the direction of Vthe rollers 10 and r11.

The effect of the `cami 32 will be to raise the upper guide plate as indicated in Figure r1'. This ligure shows the parts in the posiis desirable to employ plates which are sufficiently large to reach as far as practical towards the gripping points ofthe two pairs of rollers 10 and 11, and 15 and 1H between which they are situated; particularly is it ydesirable that the plates should lie rFhe l as close as possible to the rollers 10 and 1l. In choosing the dimensions of the plates, of course, provision must be made for the reciprocatory motion which is to be imparted to them, but the amplitude of this motion will not usually exceed half an inch.

As already stated the drive of the rollers 15 and 16 may be either constant or intermittent. A suitable mechanism for securing an intermittent drive is shown in the drawings. The shaft 33 of the roller 16 is prolonged, as shown in Figure 2, and provided with a bevel wheel 34 which engages another wheel 35 upon a driving shaft. This shaft is in two parts 36 and 37 whereof the former is received in bearings in a prolongation 38 of the rod 21 and a square rod 39, carried by the frame; member 17. The outer ends of the parts 38 and 39 are joined by an arm 40. It follows from this construction that the part 86 of the driving shaft will partake of the rocking movement of the frame member 1.7 about the pivot 18. The part 37 of the driving shaft is supported in. suitable stationary bea-rings, not shown, and is connected to the part 36 by a suitable flexible coupling composed for example of two met-al discs 41 and 42' and an intermediate leather disc 43.` Thus drive may be transmitted from the part 37 to the part 3G even though the latter rocks with the frame member 17 and the former does not.

The part 37 of the driving shaft carries a disc 44 which is slotted at 45 to form teeth, the slots being slightly oblique as. will be clear from an inspection of Figure 6 of the drawings. Mounted in position to engage with the'slots 45 is a disc` 4Gfcarried upon a suitable main driving shaft 47 which may also be the shaft upon which theA cam 24 aforesaid is mounted. In this way synchronism will be established between the intermittent drive off the rollers 15 and 1G and their rocking movement. A portion of the eriphery of the disc 4G is cut and bent to orm a tongue 4S, the distance between the end of the tongue-and the remainder ofthe disc being equal to the distancebetween the slots 45 of thel wheel 44." Thus, during the major portion of the rotation of the disc 46 no rotation will'be imparted to the wheel 44, but when the root of the tongue 48 encounters the wheel 44 rotation of the latter will commence and will be continued until the wheel. has been moved a sufiicient amount to permit the unbent portionv ofy the periphery of the disc 46 to enter the succeeding slot in the wheelv as the rotation of the disc proceeds; In this way an intermittent feed will loe imparted to the roller 16, and the speed atv which this roller will move would be governed by the slopeV of the tongue 48 between its root and its free end.

After the sliver leaves the rollers 10 and 11 it encounters the sliver-condensingdevice which in the construction illustrated consists of a pair of vertical rollers 49 and l50, the former of which is shown as being driven through bevellf gearing. The roller 5()V may be frictionally or otherwise driven from its fellow and more than one pair of these co-opera ing condensing. rollers may he provided; if desired, the arrangement preferably being such that the sliver is permitted to proceed onwards in a mor(` or less straight line.

Instead of using sliver guide plates of metal throughout as shownat 28 and 30, facing stripsl and (Figure. 7). of leather or other material having a7 higher coefficient of friction than metal may be employed. Alternately, one or both ofthe plates may h, ve corrugated faces as at and 54, Figure` 8, the length of the c-orrugations being at right angles to the direction of travel of the sliver. lV-hen both plates are corrugated, theprojections on the one should preferably lie opposite the depressions in the surface of theother, while to set a limit to the closeness with which the plates mayapproach each other, stops-such as 55, preferably adjustable, may be fitted-to the plates, whether or not they are corrugated.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that the present invention provides for the removal of one of the chief sources of irregularity in finished yarn, namely the subjecting of the sliver` to a plurality of drafting operations. This irregularity is produced in drafting by irregular displacement of the individual fibres, the fibres which should move forward, dragging with them prematurelyother vlibres the forward ends of which liefurther back` in the sliver. To overcome this premature displacement of the fibres it is necessary torely uponthe mutual support afforded by the fibres and this mutual support can be safely increased within limits by the employment ofthe sliver` guide plates described above. These plates also overcome the natural tendency of the sliver to expand due tothe resilience of the fibres and thus maintain the sliver under that degree o-f control which is requisite in view of the extreme accuracyv of feed essential in order to deal with the high draft which-is contemplated according to the present invention. rIhis high draft in itself also' tends to prod-nce regularity since only a very small percent-age of the fibres in the sliver have to be moved forward at a time.

The improvedresults which are obtained according to the invention are not only due to the fact that only' a single draftingwlevice, with a co-operating feeding. and restraining-.device -is employed, so that the whole draft is effected in Vone operation, but are also due to the fact that finished drawframe or like sliver can be fed to thefeedlll) ing and restraining device. ln such sliver the fibres lie straighter and more parallel, and more regularly spaced than they do in any sliver or roving produced by the inachines which it is the present custom to employ to impart a draft to the sliver after it has left the draw-frame. Furthermore, since the sliver is drawn through the guide plates by pulling upon it from the front, the fibres are kept taut and straight, and the feeding and restraining device is arranged to operate merely to release sliver regularly according to the pull exerted upon it by the drafting device as the latter grins certain of the fibres in the sliver. Consider- .ing an individual libre, the pull thus exerted is at its maximum when the fibre is starting to move and diminishes rapidly when once the movement has commenced and it is with this in view that the intermittent operation of the feeding and restraining' device is employed since the feed of the sliver to the drafting device can be arranged to cease, and the bull: of the sliver can actually be withdrawn therefrom, as soon as the proper number of fibres have been gripped by the drafting device and extracted from the sliver. Y

It is to be understood that the drafted material prepared,according to the present invention can be fed to any desired form of spinning mechanism, not necessarily to a mule, and that while it is particularly advantageous to supply a. finished draw-frame f or like sliver to the feeding and restraining device ofthe present invention for the purpose of converting the saidsliver directly into yarn. other forms of the fibrous material could be dealt with for preparatory purposes; for example, a lap, such as is used for feeding a cotton combing machine or is formed in other machines, may be manipulated by the same mechanism. By the phrase preparatory purposes it is therefore intended to embrace any operation in which a high draft, as hereinbefore contemplated, is obtained, whether or not the sliver or the lile made is fed without further manipulation or ]')reparation to a spinning machine. For instance the invention could be applied to a cotton or like grading or sorting machine.

lt is also to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise constructional details hereinbefore set forth. F or example, for a drafting machine as ordinarily understood, the reciprocatory movenient of the feeding and restraining rollers and of the sliver guide plates need not be employed, the pressure of the latter upon the sliver being relieved by suit-able automatic means alternative to those illustrated in the drawings.

'We claim 1 l.. A machine for drafting l'ibrous mastraining terials, comprising a drafting device, an'inine device coc-o eratinw therewith uwer and lower sliver guide pla-tes lying between the drafting and the feeding and restraining devices and bearing on substantially the whole length of sliver between the two said devices, and means for automatically intermittently lifting the upper plate to relieve the pressure of the guide plates upon `the sliver during the drafting operation of the machine;

43. A machine for drafting fibrous materials, comprising a set of constantly rotating drafting rollers, a set of intermittently actuated feeding and restraining rollers co-operating therewith, opposed sliver guide. plates lying between the drafting and the feeding and restraining devices and bearing "on substantially the whole length of sliver between the two said devices, and automatic means for intermittently moving one of saidplates away from the sliver to relieve the pressure oftheplates upon the sliver during the drafting operation of the machine,

ll. A machine for drafting fibrous materials, comprising a. drafting device7 an intermittently actuated feeding and restraining device co-operating therewith. sliver guide plates lying between the drafting and the feeding and restraining devices, friction facing st 1ips on said plates bearing on substant'ially the wholelengtli of sliver between the drafting and the feeding and restraining devices, andmeans for automatically intermittently relieving the pressure of the guide plates upon the slivery during the drafting operation of the machine.

5. A machine for drafting fibrous niaterials, comprising ak drafting device, an intermittently 'actuated feeding and redevice co-operating therewith. sliver guideplates lying between the drafting and the feeding and restraining devices. corrugated friction facing strips on said plates bearing on substantiallyy the whole length lof sliver between the drafting and the feeding and restraining devices, and means for automatically intermittentlyrelieving the pressure of the guide plates upon the sliver during-'the drafting operation of the machine,

6. A machine for drafting fibrous materials, comprising a drafting device, an intermittently actuated feeding and restraining device co-operating therewith, sliver guide plates lying between the drafting and the feeding and restraining devices, friction .facing strips on said plates, which strips are corrugated transversely of the direction of travel of the sliver between the plates, said strips bearing on substantially the whole length of sliver bet-ween the drafting and the feeding and restraining devices, and means for automatically intermittently relieving the pressure of the guide plates upon the sliver' during the drafting operation of the machine.

7. A machine for drafting fibrous materials comprising a drafting device, an intermittently actuated feeding and restraining device co-operating therewith, sliver guide plates lying between the drafting and the feeding and restraining devices and bearing on substantially the whole length of sliver between the two said devices, means for automatically intermittent-ly relieving the pressure of the guide plates upon the `sliver during the drafting operation of the machine, and means for intermittently operatiing` the feeding and restraining device during the drafting operation of the machine.

8. A machine for drafting fibrous materials, comprising a set of constantly ro-,

tating drafting rollers, a set of rotary feeding and restraining rollers co-operating therewith, sliver guide plates lying between the drafting and the feeding and restraining devices and bearing on substantially the whole length of sliver between the two said devices, means whereby the pressure of the guide plates upon the sliver is automatically intermittently relieved during the drafting operation of the machine, and means for intermittently rotating the feeding and restraining rollers during the drafting operation of the machine.

9. A machine for drafting fibrous materials comprising a drafting device, a feeding and restraining device co-operating therewith, sliver guide plates lying between the drafting and the feeding and restraining devices and bearing on substantially the whole length of sliver between the two said devices, means whereby the pressure of the guide plates upon the sliver is automatically intermittently relieved during the drafting operation of the machine, and means for intermittently operating the feeding and restraining device at times coincident with the relief of the pressure upon the guide plates on 'the sliver.

10. A machine for drafting fibrous mate 'ials comprising a drafting device, a feeding and restraining;` device co-ogerating "herewith, sliver guide plates lying between the drafting and the feeding and restraining devices and bearing on substantially the whole length of sliver between the two said devices, means whereby the pressure of the guide plates upon the sliver is automatically intermittently relieved during the drafting operation of the machine, and means for intermittently reciprocating the feeding and restraining device bodily towards and from the drafting device during the drafting operation of the machine.

ll. A machine for drafting fibrous materials, comprising a set of constantly rotating drafting rollers, a set of rotary feeding and restiuining` rollers (ro-operating therewith, sliver guide plates lying between the drafting and the feeding and restraining devices and bearing on substantially the whole length of sliver between the two said devices, means whereby the pressure of the guide plates upon the sliver is automatically intermittently relieved during the drafting operation of the machine, means for intermittently rotating the feeding and restraining` rollers during the drafting operation of the machine and means for intermittently reciprocating said last-named rollers bodily towards and from the drafting rollers.

l2. A machine for drafting fibrous materials, comprising a drafting device, a feeding and restraining device co-operating therewith, sliver guide plates lying between the drafting and the feeding and restraining devices and bearing on substantially the whole length of sliver between the two said devices, means whereby the pressure of the guide plates upon the sliver is intermittently relieved during the drafting operation of the machine, and means for intermittently reciprocating the sliver guide plates bodily towards and from the drafting device during the drafting operation of the machine.

l'. A machine for drafting fibrous materials comprising a drafting device, a feeding` and restraining device co-operatingtherewith, sliver guide plates lying between the drafting and the feeding and restraining devices and bearing on substantially the whole length of sliver between the two said devices, means whereby the pressure of the guide plates upon the sliver is automatically intermittently relieved during the crafting operation of the machine, and means for intermittently reciprocating the sliver guide plates and the feeding and restraining device bodily and synchronously towards and from the drafting device during the drafting operation of the machine.

le. A machine. for drafting fibrous inaterials comprising a drafting device, a feeding and restraining device co-operating therewith, sliver guide plates lying between the drafting and the feeding and restraining devices and bearing on substantially the iii) whole length of sliver between the two said devices, means whereby the pressure of the guide plates upon the sliver is automatically intermittently relieved during the drafting operation of the machine, a rocking frame supporting the sliver guide plates and the feeding and restraining device, and means for rocking said frame to move the sliver guide plates and the feeding and restraining device intermittently7 bodily towards and from the drafting device.

l5. A machine for drafting fibrous inaterials comprising a drafting device, a feeding and restraining device co-operating therewith` sliver guide plates lying between the drafting and the feeding and restraining devices and bearing on substantially the whole length of sliver between the two said devices, means for interniittently reciprocating the sliver guide plates bodily towards and from theY drafting device during the drafting operation of the machine, and means whereby the pressure of the guide plates upon the sliver is automatically intermittently relieved, the timing being such that the relief of the pressure of theguide plates on the sliver coincides with the Cohcluding portion of the translatory movement of such plates towards the drafting device. i

1G. machine for drafting fibrous materials comprising a drafting device, a feeding and restraining device co-operating therewith., opposed sliver guide plates lying between the drafting` and the feeding and restraining` devices and receiving between them and bearing upon substantially the whole length of sliver between the said drafting and the feeding and rest-raining devices, means for intermittently reciproeating` the said guide plates bodily towards and from the drafting device during the drafting operation of the machine, and a cam supported in the line of movement ofv the guide plates so as to be encountered by the latter towards the end of their movenient in the direction of the drafting device and cause said plates to separate, for the purpose specified.

17. A. machine for drafting fibrous materials comprising a drafting device, a feeding and restraining device co-operating therewith, sliver guide plates lying betweenk the drafting and the feeding and restraining devices and bearing on substantially the whole length of sliver between the two said devices, means whereby the pressure of the guide platesy upon the sliver is automat-ically intermittently relieved during the drafting operation of the machine, and means for intermittently operating the feeding and restraining device during the drafting operation of the machine, said lastnamed means comprising a toothed wheel and a disc which engages and drives said wheel, one portion of the periphery of the ydisc lying in one plane and another poi'- tion of the periphery extending in the form of a tongue having a free end which lies in another plane separated from the first said plane by a distance corresponding to the pi ch of the teeth of the said wheel, for the purpose specified.

18. A machine for drafting brous materials comprising a drafting device, a feeding and restraining device co-operating therewith, sliver guide plates lying between the drafting and the feeding and restraining devices and bearing on substantially the whole length of sliver between the two said devices, means whereby the pressure of the guide plates upon the sliver is autoinatically intermittently relieved during the drafting operation of the machine, means whereby the feeding and restraining device is intermittentlyy reciprocated bodily towards and from the drafting deviceduring the drafting operation of the machine, and means for intermittently driving the feeding and restraining device during the drafting operation of the zmachine, said lastnamed means comprising a two-part rotary lshaft and a flexible coupling which connects the two parts of the shaft together endwise,

lthe one shaft part moving with the feeding` and restraining device in its reciprocatory movement, and the other shaft part not par- 'feeding' and restraining devices and bearing on substantially the whole length of sliver between the two said devices, means for intermittently operating the feeding and restraining device during the drafting operation of the machine, and means whereby, during the drafting koperationof the machine, the feedingand restraining device is intermittently reciprocated bodily towards and from the drafting device.

20. A machine Lfor drafting fibrous materials, comprising in combination a drafting device, a feeding and restraining de vice co-operating therewith, sliver guide plates lying between the draftingand the feeding and restraining devices and. bearing on substantially the whole'length of sliver between the two said devices, means for intermittently operating the feeding and restraining device during the drafting operation of the machine, means whereby, during the drafting operation of the machine. the feeding and restraining device is intermittent-ly ieciprocated bodily towards and from the drafting device, and means whereby the sliver guide plates are also similarly intermittently reciprocated bodily.

2l. A machine for drafting fibrous materials, comprising in combination a set of constantly' rotating drafting rollers, a set of feeding and restraining rollers cti-operating therewith, co-operating upper and lower sliver guide plates lying between the drafting and the feeding and restraining rollers and bearing on substantially the whole length of sliver between the two said sets of rollers, means for intermittently rotating the feeding and restraining rollers during the drafting operation of the machine, and means whereby, during the drafting operation of the machine, the feeding and restraining rollers are intermittently reciprocated bodily towards and from the drafting rollers.

22. A machine for drafting fibrous materials, comprising in combination a drafting device, a feeding and restraining device co-operating therewith, sliver guide plates lying between the drafting and the feeding and restraining devices and bearing on substantially the whole length of sliver between the two said devices, means for intermittently operating the feeding and restraining device during the drafting operation of the machin-e, means whereby, during the drafting operation of the machine, the feeding and restraining device is intermittently reciprocatcd bodily towards and from the drafting device, and sliver-condensing means operating upon the sliver after it has issued from the drafting device.

23. A machine for drafting fibrous materials comprising a drafting device, a feeding and restraining device co-operating therewith, sliver guide plates lying between the drafting and the feeding and restraining devices and bearing on substantially the whole length of sliver between the two said devices, means whereby the pressure of the guide plates upon the sliver is auto-matically intermittently relieved during the drafting operation of the machine, and slivercondensing means operating upon the sliver after it has issued from the drafting device.

24. A machine for drafting fibrous materials, comprising' in combination a set of constantly rotating drafting rollers, a feeding and restraining device co-operating therewith, means for intermittently feeding a sliver to said drafting rollers, and slivercondensing rollers operating upon the sliver after it has issued from the drafting rollers, the axes of rotation of which sliver-condensing rollers nearest the drafting rollers are fixed to lie transversely of the axes of the adjacent drafting rollers, for the purpose specified.

25. A machine for drafting fibrous materials comprising a drafting device, a feeding and restraining device cri-operating therewith, sliver guide plates lying between the drafting and the feeding and restraining devices and bearing on substantially the whole length of sliver between the two said devices, said guide plates forming a corrugated surface to guide the sliver, means for intermittently operating the feeding and restraining device during the drafting operation of the machine, and means whereby, during the drafting operation of the machine, the feeding and restraining device is intermittently reciprocated bodily towards and from the drafting device.

26. A machine for drafting fibrous materials comprising a drafting device, a feeding and restraining device co-operating therewith, sliver guide plates lying between the drafting and the feeding and restraining devices and bearing on substantially the whole length of sliver between the two said f*- devices, stops provided on said guide plates to regulate the closeness with which the plates may approach each other, and means whereby the pressure of the plates upon the sliver is automatically intermittently relieved during the drafting operation of the machine.

27. A machine for drafting fibrous materials, comprising in combination a set of constantly rotating drafting rollers, an intermittently actuated feeding and restraindevice co-operating therewith, means for intermittently feeding a sliver to said drafting rollers, and sliver-condensing rollers arranged to operate upon the sliver after it has issued from the drafting rollers, the axes of rotation of which sliver-condensing rollers are fixed to lie transversely of the axes of the adjacent drafting rollers, substantially as described.

28. A machine for drafting fibrous materials, comprising in combination a set of constantly rotating drafting rollers, a feeding and restraining device cooperating therewith, means comprising opposed sliver guide plates for intermittently feeding a sliver to said drafting rollers, and sliver-condensing rollers arranged to operate upon the sliver after it has issued from the drafting rollers, the axes of rotation of which slivercondensing rollers are fixed to lie transversely of the axes of rotation of the adjacent drafting rollers, substantially as described.

29. A machine for draftingfibrous materials, comprising in combination a set of constantly rotating drafting rollers, an intermittently actuated feeding and restraining device cooperating therewith, opposed sliver guide plates lying between the drafting and the feeding and restraining devices and bearing on substantially the whole length of sliver between the two said devices, automatic means for intermittently moving one of said plates away from the sliver to relieve the pressure of the platesupon .the

sliver during the drafting operation of the machine, and sliver-oondensin rollers arranged to operate upon the sliver after it has issued from the drafting rollers, the axes of rotation of which sliVer-oondensin rollers nearest the drafting rollers are xe to lie transversely of the axes of the adjat cent drafting rollers, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof We have signed our 10 names to this specification.

WILLIAM LAWRENCE BALLS. FREDERICK HU'ICHINS. 

